February 17, 2009

In this episode of the Software Freedom Law Show, Bradley and Karen interview Van Lindberg of the law firm, Haynes and Boone. The discussion centers around explaining the difference between copyrights, patents and trademarks to Free Software developers.

Running time: 00:40:18.

Show Notes

Segment 0 (00:28)

• Unlike our previous guests Scott and Richard, Van is an external, or outside counsel, who are lawyers hired by the company or organization that advise it from the outside. External lawyers are often employees of law firms, as Van is. (02:07)

Segment 1 (03:47)

Interview with Van Lindberg.

• Van is an associate at a law firm called Haynes and Boone (04:15).
• The term we don't like that Bradley keeps referring to is “intellectual property”, which has often been criticized by people in the Software Freedom world, initially in the writings of Richard Stallman. (12:29)
• Karen asked if Van is a patent lawyer. “Patent lawyers” are lawyers who are the member of the bar in some state, and have also taken a special exam to allow them to practice before the United States Patent Office. “Patent agents” are non-lawyers who have taken the same exam and can also practice before the United States Patent Office. Practicing before the patent office is unique in the USA, as you can do so without going to law school and passing a state-level bar exam. (13:30)
• Van's book is Intellectual Property and Open Source, published by O'Reilly. (36:50)

Tags: bkuhn, karen, lindberg, patents, copyrights, trademarks